It will be Father’s Day here in the UK on June 21 so I shall be focusing on new or recent books celebrating it (typically, I think I forgot to do this for Mother’s Day!!!). Here is the first one I’m looking at, newly out.

It is a very special day but Little Pip can’t remember why. He starts off thinking it is to do with his own birthday or Christmas (a nod to the previous books How Many Sleeps till My Birthday and How Many Sleeps till Christmas). Daddy Grizzle doesn’t mind and they go off on their planned woodland adventure. They have a lovely day together which includes toasted marshmallows at one point so I was very happy with that! Little Pip does remember and cleverly avoids saying Father’s Day – rather, it is the day ‘when all the woodland creatures give their daddies a special day to thank them for all the lovely things they do’. So this book could just be about quality father and son time. The text is quite long and I like that – if a father and son read this they would have to take their time over it, which would be rather wonderful.

Little Pip is very sad when he realizes what the day is all about because he hasn’t got a card or a present to give Daddy Grizzle. But Daddy Grizzle doesn’t mind at all because the best present is spending time with Little Pip. At the end Little Pip declares his love for his father and it is very touching. The pink marshmallow they are toasting has become heart shaped and a fly has drawn a heart in the sky too.

It is a lovely story and the idea of a person’s company being enough of a present is something that everyone should remember.